Method of making closing means, especially for collapsible tubes



0d. 25; 1938. NZ I 2,134,119

METHOD OF MAKING CLOSING MEANS, ESPECIALLY FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed April 25, 1935 Patented Oct. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE METHOD OF MAKING CLOSING MEANS, ES- PECIALLY FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Philipp Franz, Stockholm, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Svenska Kapsylfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Application April 25, 1935, Serial No. 18,229 In Sweden May 2, 1934 3 Claims.

My present invention refers to a closing means, especially for collapsible tubes, and consisting mainly of a Valve cock member, for instance in the shape of a ball or a semi-spherical body, ro-

tatably mounted in the neck portion of the tube.

The invention is characterized by the fact, that the said valve means is resiliently mounted between an apertured disc member made from an elastic, or resilient, material, for instance cork, and supported by an also apertured bottom member located within the tubular tube neck, and the inturned outer edge of the said tube neck. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the outer edge of the tubular tube neck is made tapering, so that the outer face of the same is smoothly and evenly merging into the spherical face of the valve body.

Several advantages are gained by the provision of the resilient disc member between the valve body and the tube neck bottom. By such means, the said tube neck bottom may be given any desired shape, and it is not necessary that it shall form any seat which is shaped according to the valve body. OnaccOunt hereof, the costs for manufacturing the tube as a whole are materially reduced.

Furthermore, the valve means is resiliently mounted within the tube neck in a manner so that the required tightening is always maintained, and the movements of said valve means are always easily performable. Besides, the presence of the resilient intermediate disc results in that the valve body, when turned, will effectively be swept clean, so that the interior contents of the tube cannot enter between the valve body and the inner face of the tube neck wall, which otherwise might result in a sticking to its seat of the Valve body.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which shows two different embodiments of the same. In the drawing- Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section'of the upper end of the tubeand the valve means mounted therein according to one embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly sectional, taken at right angles to Fig. 1 and showing the same embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 shows the second embodiment of invention in the same manner as Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is an elevation at right angles to Fig. 3.

According to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the collapsible tube body l is provided with a tubular neck portion 2 traversed and sub-divided by a neck bottom member 3 provided with a central aperture 4. The

J bent and shaped into the form of a handle portion neck bottom member 3 serves as a support means for a disc member 5 made from a suitable elastic, or resilient,'materia1, such disc member being provided with an aperture l in register with the aperture t in the neck bottom member. The disc -5 member 5 may be made, for instance, from cork.

A valve ball 8 is provided within the opening, or throat, of the tube neck, such valve ball having a diametrically extending channel, or bore, 9 of r a suitable cross sectional size, and the shape of IO such channel may vary according to will, so that its cross sectional area may form a circle, an oval,

a square,'a rectangle, a star, or the like.

The diameter of the valve ball 8 is equal to, or a little smaller than, the interior diameter of the tube neck 2, and the ball body is provided with a pivot stud ID, the outer end of which is 12. The said pivot stud is mounted in a lateral bore H in the side wall of the tube neck 2, and the handle portion I2 of the same is shaped in such: a way that it takes a position closely adjacent to and parallel with the 1ongitudinal axis of the tube neck, when turned into a closing position of the valve means, as shown in Fig. 2.

The valve ball 8 is kept in its position within the tube neck 2 by pressing the outer edge of the latter inwardly around the said valve ball, as shown in the drawing, so that the ball is pressed against the elastic, or resilient, disc member 5 under a certain and predeterminable pressure.

The valve ball is kept in position by pressing in the free edge of the tube neck, as aforesaid, and the said edge may be made tapering so as to form a smooth and even curve with the exposed portion of the valve ball.

In the position of the valve ball shown in" the drawing, the channel 9 therein extends at right angles to the apertures 4 and l, and consequently the tube is closed. In order to provide for a feeding out of the material within the tube l, the valve ball member must be turned through an angle of 90", such turning being performable by means of the handle l2, and when a required quantity of the material has been fed out, thevalve ball is turned back again into its original position, so that the tube becomes closed.

Such residues of the material, which perhaps may be swept off from the valve ball face against the edge of the tube neck when closing the valve, may easily and completely be removed since the faces are smooth and do not show any portion accessible with difficulty only. The material at hand within the channel 9 in the valve ball becomes never get lost. The closing of the tube can be performed in one manner only, and it is not necessary to control or inspect the tightening. In case the tube is filled with fatty stufis, the bearing faces of the valve means are automatically lubricated, which circumstance is of some importance in certain instances, though it is not to be feared that the valve member will be clogged so as to be nonturnable, even if such lubrication is not effected.

The valve ball may be made from any suitable,

material, for instance aluminium or Bakelite.

In the embodiment of the invention according to Figs. 3 and 4, similar references are used for corresponding parts of construction as in Figs. 1 and 2. The cylindrical tube neck 2 is provided with a bottom member 3 just as in the embodiment according to the last mentioned figures. An aperture 4 is eccentrically provided in said neck bottom member which serves as a support for a disc member 5 made from cork, or other suitable elastic, or resilient, material, such disc member being provided with an aperture 1 located in register with the aforesaid aperture 4. t

A semi-spherical valve member [9 is mounted in the tube neck so that the flat base of the same rests on the disc member 5 and is kept in contact with the latter under a suitable pressure emanating from the inturned edge of the tube neck, said tube neck edge preferably being tapering for forming a smooth curve with the xposed spherical face of the valve member IS.

The said valve member I9 is provided with a short handle 20 extending laterally through a slot 2| in the Wall of the tube neck, such means permitting a turning of the valve member around the longitudinal axis of the tube neck. Besides, the valve member I9 is also provided with a bore, or channel, 22 extending from the flat base face of the same and approximately to the centre of the exposed portion of its spherical face. The

inner end of said channel 22 is positioned eccentrically in relation to the axis of the valve body, and to the same extent as the eccentricity of the aperture 1 in the disc 5.

By turning the valve member l9, it will be possible to displace the inner end of the channel 22 from the position shown, so that it is no longer in register with the aperture 1, and then the tube will naturally become closed.

In the embodiment of the invention as last described, the material at hand within the channel 22 will not be protected from atmospheric influences, even if the tube is closed, and in this respect the said embodiment differs from the first one described.- With regard to certain nondrying materials, such as fatty creams and waxes, for instance shoe polish, the said difference is of no consequence, however, especially as the entrance of dust and other foreign matters into the channel 22 does not matter in such instances. For tooth paste, cosmetic preparations and other products intended for care or preservation of the human body, the closing means ought to be constructed so as to exclude atmospheric influence on all portions of the material Within the tube adjacent its upper edge, placing an apertured disc of elastic material on said transverse division wall, inserting a ball-shaped valve body provided with a laterally extending handle into the cylindrical neck portion from the upper end thereof with the handle projecting through the opening in the neck portion, and turning the edge of said cylindrical neck portion inwardly so as to contact the valve body and urge the same against the elastic disc.

2. A method of making soft metal collapsible tubes having a ball closure valve with a discharge channel, comprising forming a collapsible tube with a tubular neck with an apertured ball seat at the junction of the tube and neck, forming an aperture in the tubular wall of the neck adjacent the discharge end thereof, inserting a ball valve with a discharge channel and a laterally extending operating handle into the discharge endof said neck by passing said handle through the aperture in the wall of said neck, and turning the peripheral edge of the discharge end of the neck inwardly to bear against said valve and retain the same on its seat.

said handle through the aperture in the wall of said neck, and turning the peripheral edge of the discharge end of the neck inwardly to bear against said valve and retain the same on said resilient disc.

PHILIPP FRANZ. 

